TITLE XXX
OCCUPATIONS AND PROFESSIONS

CHAPTER 318-B
CONTROLLED DRUG ACT

Section 318-B:12

    318-B:12 Records to be Kept; Confidentiality. –
I. Practitioners, including physicians, podiatrists, dentists, veterinarians, optometrists, advanced practice registered nurses, manufacturers, wholesalers, pharmacists, clinics, hospitals, and laboratories, shall keep separate records, so as not to breach the confidentiality of patient records, to show the receipt and disposition of all controlled drugs. Such records shall meet the requirements of the department of health and human services and federal laws and regulations relative to the receipt, manufacture, inventory, distributions, sale, dispensing, loss, theft, and any other disposition of controlled drugs. The records shall indicate at least the name, dosage form, strength, and quantity of the controlled drug; the name and address of any person to whom the drug was administered, dispensed, sold or transferred and the date of any and all transactions involved with the controlled drug.
II. Prescription orders and records required by this chapter and stocks of controlled drugs shall be open for inspection only to federal, state, county and municipal law enforcement officers; all officers, agents, inspectors, and representatives of the board of pharmacy who are charged with the responsibility to enforce this chapter; all peace officers within the state; the attorney general; and all county attorneys whose duty it is to enforce the laws of this state or of the United States relating to controlled drugs. No officer having knowledge by virtue of his office of any such prescription, order, or record shall divulge such knowledge, except in connection with a prosecution or proceeding in court or before a licensing or registration board or officer, to which prosecution or proceeding the person to whom such prescriptions, orders or records relate is a party.
III. Practitioners including physicians, podiatrists, dentists, veterinarians, optometrists, advanced practice registered nurses, manufacturers, wholesalers, pharmacies, clinics, hospitals, laboratories, and any other person required by federal law to conduct biennial controlled substance inventories, shall do so in accordance with 21 U.S.C. section 1304.11(c) inventory requirements every odd-numbered year. The pharmacy board, established in RSA 318:2, may adopt rules, pursuant to RSA 541-A, relative to the board's responsibility for ensuring compliance with this paragraph.
IV. Records relative to prescription information containing patient-identifiable and prescriber-identifiable data shall not be licensed, transferred, used, or sold by any pharmacy benefits manager, insurance company, electronic transmission intermediary, retail, mail order, or Internet pharmacy or other similar entity, for any commercial purpose, except for the limited purposes of pharmacy reimbursement; formulary compliance; care management; utilization review by a health care provider, the patient's insurance provider or the agent of either; health care research; or as otherwise required by law. Commercial purpose includes, but is not limited to, advertising, marketing, promotion, or any activity that could be used to influence sales or market share of a pharmaceutical product, influence or evaluate the prescribing behavior of an individual health care professional, or evaluate the effectiveness of a professional pharmaceutical detailing sales force. Nothing in this paragraph shall prohibit the dispensing of prescription medications to a patient or to the patient's authorized representative; the transmission of prescription information between an authorized prescriber and a licensed pharmacy; the transfer of prescription information between licensed pharmacies; the transfer of prescription records that may occur in the event a pharmacy ownership is changed or transferred; care management educational communications provided to a patient about the patient's health condition, adherence to a prescribed course of therapy or other information about the drug being dispensed, treatment options, or clinical trials. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the collection, use, transfer, or sale of patient and prescriber de-identified data by zip code, geographic region, or medical specialty for commercial purposes. In addition to other appropriate remedies under this chapter, a violation of this paragraph is an unfair or deceptive act or practice within the meaning of RSA 358-A:2. Any right or remedy set forth in RSA 358-A may be used to enforce the provisions of this paragraph.

Source. 1969, 421:1. 1977, 547:14. 1983, 292:10. 1985, 324:21. 1990, 129:4. 1993, 333:5, 6. 1994, 333:22, 23. 1995, 310:181. 2006, 328:2, eff. June 30, 2006. 2019, 8:1, eff. July 9, 2019.